Minus 5 weeks ... S.O.S. Ask for Help!

 

Weekly Reminder #6       Warning!  You cannot cook the food, serve drinks, clean up empty glasses, clean up spills, rewind the video, and still be the congenial host and introduce your friends and neighbors. Don’t have your head in the oven when the door bell rings! Ask for help! If you try to do it all, you won’t have any fun at all!   A common complaint from parents after a graduation party is “I wish I would have had more help during the party. I was so busy, I didn’t have time to talk to anyone!” So we suggest that you recruit someone to help. Here are some tips: Do you have a friend who is hosting a graduation party this spring whom you could swap services with? Call her and say “If you help me with our graduation party, I will help you with yours.” If possible, recruit a friend who may not know a lot of your guests. Mary was asked to help a friend at her party, but ended up knowing so many of the guests that she was talking all the time and felt bad later. Do you have friends with children graduating next year? Tell them you promise to help them if they’ll help you. Do you have helpful relatives planning to come? They may be happy to lend a hand. Ask them before the party. Don’t assume they will help. If all else fails, hire somebody through a catering service. It’s worth every penny! Hire a food server from your favorite restaurant. If you have to hire someone, negotiate an hourly wage, and if you are happy with their performance give them a tip. Line up two or three helpers if you can.   Ask your helpers to come early and give them written instructions. Make your expectations clear ahead of time. Give them a quick tour of the house, including: Where to put gifts? Where is the back up food stored? Where does the trash go? Where are the beverages stored? Ice? Any deliveries expected? Instructions for heating food? Clean up after the party? For our readers in the Minneapolis area we strongly recommend Hire A Host, a Minneapolis based provider of professional wait staff and bartenders. We have hired through this firm many times and we are always thrilled by their ability to run the party behind the scenes. Here is a description of their services and a link to their web site, or call Melanie for more information at 952-426-2004. Let Hire a Host take the stress out of entertaining. We’ll help you plan and coordinate your menu, wait staff and bartenders, entertainment, valet service, rental supplies (china, linen, etc.) and anything else you might need for your party. Our hosts and bartenders are specially trained to “co-host” with you. We will handle the labor side of hosting, including: taking coats, last-minute food preparation, set up and maintenance of buffets, passing out hors d’oeuvres, table clearing and complete clean up. When we leave, it looks like a party never took place.   Paying for help may seem like a luxury, but you will have a much better time and you won’t be so tired afterwards. If you have someone else doing most of the work during the party, it will give you the time and pleasure to greet your guests, reintroduce your graduate if necessary and mingle with your friends.   In addition to having someone help in the kitchen, ask an outgoing person to take photos. Many parents complain that they forgot to take photographs during their party. Have them take photos of everyone and give them extra film or disks to reload the camera.   Ask someone else to pick up the balloons, or put up the yard signs.   Give your helpers a thank you gift. My sister-in-law gave me a photo of the grad party kitchen crew (we had a great time!) and a flowering plant for my garden.   One of our friends that served a Mexican taco bar with the help of two neighbors bought them both red hot chili pepper aprons. A gift certificate to a nice local restaurant would be appropriate.   Hire a Caterer Hiring a caterer is a great alternative to doing all of the work yourself. If you are hosting the party in your own home, feel free to plan on making or buying some of the food and/or beverages yourself. Leave the labor intensive and time sensitive items to the caterer.   There is a wide variety of caterers to choose from. Working with a good caterer is great fun and should make the party much easier for you. For caterers in your area, just go to our Local Products & Services webpage and search for your state. We may have some local businesses listed.   Caterer Checklist We have taken the time to interview several caterers and offer the following checklist for your interviews. What are their specialties? (Food and beverage) Do they have a printed menu you could review? If you have a theme for your party, ask the caterer for recommendations to fit the theme. What serving equipment do they supply? (platters, chaffing dishes, serving spoons, tongs, plates, silverware, glasses, coffee urns, pitchers for beverages) Do they rent tables, chairs, linens, table skirts, dishes, silverware? If they don’t, they may recommend a service. Do they provide or rent any extras? (Centerpieces, candles, decorations, props, etc.) How do they bill? Insist on a written estimate and breakdown of all costs. Ask to see a sample invoice so you know what to expect. What is their policy for quantities, can you return anything? How much space do they need to set up and what do you need to provide for them? Can they provide you with references? How do they figure portion sizes? How many people will staff your event? Does their staff serve beverages? Is there a separate delivery charge? Does their staff clean up during and after the party? What is included in this clean-up service? Many local restaurants provide catering as part of their services. Some options include picking up the food yourself, delivery (hot or cold), delivery with set-up, and delivery with full service staffing.   Can’t wait for the next e-mail? You may want to jump ahead and get started on some more of the details ... order a copy of Graduation Parties! Everything You Need to Know From Start to Finish available from our website as a book in paper copy or a convenient downloadable version! Click here to find out more about the book.   This 100-page guide provides great advice from experienced moms - like you!   Or visit our website at www.graduationparty.com.  It also contains a lot of information including ideas, tips and hints for all your graduation party needs.  You can even order unique graduation-themed items such as invitations, decorations, and much, much more.   We will be sending you friendly reminders to help you get organized and avoid the last minute panic.  If you do not want to receive these reminders please reply to this e-mail with “take me off your mailing list” in the subject line.   If you have a friend that is planning a graduation party, please forward them this e-mail and suggest they sign-up for our e-newsletter. They can just click here to go to our Newsletter sign-up page.   If you have a burning question that is keeping you up at night, send us an e-mail, we will try to get back to you so you can sleep tonight.   Good luck!!   Ginger Venable ginger@graduationparty.com   PS: All of our newsletters are kept on our website. If you’ve missed an earlier version or if you want to take a peek at the upcoming ones just go to our website, www.graduationparty.com, and click on “E-Newsletters”.